Executive Director of Advancement wins prestigious award

St. Andrew’s College Executive Director of Advancement Scott Hayter was honoured yesterday for his deep commitment to philanthropy over his extensive career.

Scott was named winner of the Sam Heaman Award, which honours advancement professionals. The award ceremony was held Thursday at the CCAE 2018 Independent School Summit.

Scott was unable to be there in person to accept the distinguished award. His wife, SAC Librarian and Archivist Sue Hayter, attended the ceremony in his place. Headmaster Kevin McHenry surprised Scott with the news Thursday evening as they were attending the annual Burns Supper together in New York City.

“Congratulations to Scott on winning this prestigious award. It certainly is well deserved,” Headmaster McHenry said.

Scott is retiring in June from St. Andrew’s after a decade at the helm of the School’s Advancement Office, which has grown from five people to a team of 12, including a new Communications Department.

During his tenure, the College successfully completed its $37M Not An Ordinary Place Campaign. It was the most successful campaign in the School’s history, resulting in a state-of-the-art athletic complex, with an NHL-sized ice surface, a $22M Centre for Leadership, Innovation & Performance that houses a theatre, and centres of excellence for music, robotics and engineering, and business. Extensive renovations have also made to the kitchen and dining facilities.

“Seeing the campus grow and the students mature, as well as being part of an amazing and generous community of Andreans, is about as good as it gets for an advancement professional,” Scott said.

In addition to recognizing what he has accomplished at St. Andrew’s, the Sam Heaman Award recognizes Scott’s development activities during his career in Canadian independent schools, and his exemplary level of leadership in and commitment to the profession in Canada.

Scott has certainly fulfilled this requirement. He has been involved in fundraising since 1988 when he took on the role of Assistant Headmaster at Robert Land Academy, Canada’s only private military boarding school for boys. There, he learned the impact a development and alumni program can have on an institution.

In 1995, Scott studied at Brock University, a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, where he learned a great deal about fundraising, annual giving programs, capital campaigns, planned giving, and faculty and staff campaigns.

Two years later, Scott and his family moved to the U.K. to accept a position as Director of Development at Durham University. There, he restructured the development and alumni relations teams, and gained experience in alumni relations, major giving, volunteer committees, and planning and implementing a large comprehensive capital campaign, raising £175M. He was promoted to the position of Durham’s Director of Corporate Development and Communications.

In 2004, Scott accepted a senior position in Waterloo, Ontario at Wilfrid Laurier University as Assistant Vice President: University Development and Campaign Director. He was tasked with restructuring and revitalizing the development area, and for the planning and execution of a $100-million Century Campaign. Three years later and four years ahead of schedule, $36 million had been raised under Scott’s leadership. In August 2007, he became Wilfrid Laurier’s Vice-President of University Advancement.

Scott was recruited to St. Andrew’s College in 2008 as the School’s Executive Director of Advancement. He is also President of the St. Andrew’s College Foundation, and in this role he saw the school’s endowment grow from $23M to $34M.

“I have had the privilege of working with many gifted and extraordinary people in advancement, helping move institutions forward, and having fun doing it,” Scott said.

“I have always felt privileged to give back to our profession, share what I have learned, and help others grow. Passion is what makes the difference.”